Start Simply

Image from here.

Our bathroom sink was draining very s-l-o-w-l-y. I didn't want to go out and just buy a lot of expensive drain cleaners if I could do it cheaper with natural ingredients around the house. After a quick internet search I decided to use baking soda and vinegar. The website I found said to pour 1 cup of baking soda down the drain followed by 1 cup of vinegar, pull the plug, wait for about 30 minutes, then wash it all down with hot water. First off, we could only stuff in about 1/4 cup of baking soda because we couldn't get the plug out of the bathroom sink. Then, when we poured the vinegar in it fizzed up out of the drain and into the basin of the sink. By the time we were able to get most of the vinegar and baking soda into the drain and close it off the reaction was already slowing. We did this twice and it made a little bit of a difference but nothing to write home about. I was frustrated. How did people clean out the drains before the invention and commercial availability of drain cleaners? Did they just hire a plumber? Did they have to take the sink apart and snake it? Maybe if it was so bad that the water didn't drain at all but probably people started with a very simple tool that is found in nearly every home - a plunger. This was my 3 AM realization. We could try to plunge out the clog. (FYI- Be sure that you cover the overflow hole so you don't get nasty sink gunk sprayed on yourself. After learning that lesson the hard way, I had my husband hold a folded up hand towel over the hole while I plunged.) I am happy to report that the sink is draining like there was never an issue and with relatively little effort and no money. Hooray for the simple things in life.

Laundry Detergent

So, I tend to be a little on the crazy side of things. I make all of our food from scratch (my husband has jumped on board and is excited to try making his own soda), use cloth diapers, and clean with vinegar. So, I want to know, how is it that I just heard of making my own laundry detergent? My friend Sara posted on her [private] blog about it and then she let me have some (to try out on our diapers) and it worked like a charm. I loved it! Then I did the cost calculations and found out that if I buy our detergent on clearance at Target it costs about 7.95 cents a load whereas making my own, assuming I am willing to buy part at Target and part at WinCo (two stores I go to the most), it costs 0.95 cents a load. That is seven cents a load. I know, seven cents doesn't sound like a lot but if you figure that I do about 12 loads of laundry a week (in the summer; in the winter it goes up to about 14 with the extra bedding) then you see that each week I am saving 84 cents (98 cents in the winter), which is $3.36 a month or about $45 a year. I suppose that to some it still doesn't sound like much but we are trying to save up for a house and I run a very tight budget so that is a ton of money for us. Plus, I looked into the ingredients and they are all natural things that have been around for many years. It was really easy (it only took about 25 minutes to make), here is how to do it:

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Ingredients and Supplies

1 bar Fels-Naptha Soap

5 gallons hot water, divided

1 cup washing soda

1/2 cup Borax

5 gallon bucket

Cheese grater

Sauce pan

Large spoon

Empty containers with lids (like old milk jugs)

1. Grate Fels-Naptha Soap.

2. Add grated soap to 4 cups warm water in saucepan. Heat on medium until soap is dissolved stirring constantly.

3. Fill 5-gallon bucket half full with hot tap water. Add Fels-Naptha solution, stir.

4. Combine washing soda and borax. Add to bucket and stir until completely dis

solved.

5. Add more hot tap water until you have 5 total gallons of liquid in the bucket. Stir and cool overnight.

6. Pour into containers. To use, dilute with water to 50% solu

tion. Shake before use because it will gel.

If you want to you could add about 5 drops of essential oil per gallon once the mixture has cooled. We didn't add the oil because my husband is not a fan of things that have scent added to them and our youngest son has sensitive skin so things like that tend to cause him to break out.

I live in a small apartment so I put the concentrated liquid into old gallon containers (rinsed out milk or vinegar jugs) then I have one half-gallon container for the diluted soap that is in use. I measured out 4 cups and marked it on the container with marker so when I need to refill, I know how much soap to add then add water from there to the top.

The instructions say to use 1 cup per load but I am trying out 3/4 cup instead (because I am cheap). No problems yet.

It's hot!

What do you do when it is hot outside? Crank up the air conditioning and eat popsicles? That sounds nice but expensive. Over the years I have found some great ways to keep the electric bills down while still managing to stay comfortable in the heat. Some of the things you may have already heard:

--Run heat-generating appliances (like the dishwasher or oven) early in the morning or late at night.

--Use the oven less (opt for things like salads or cold sandwiches or light up the grill outside).

--Turn down the a/c. I have taken this one to the extreme (we liked to keep ours set to about 87 or 90 degrees except when I was pregnant, then it was at about 85).

--Use fans, but only where you are because fans don't actually cool the air, they just circulate the air so it feels cooler.

Now, here are some that I have come up with on my own:

--Close the windows and shades. I know, this seems counterintuitive but it really works. On really hot days I liked to open the windows in the early morning (about 6-8 AM) then close them. The air in the house stays much cooler than it is outside. Yesterday it was about 95 degrees outside but when my husband got home he said it felt about 20 degrees cooler inside. One warning, you may start to feel like a mole in the dark, which leads to my next point,

--Get out. Go to places that you know will be air conditioned and spend time there instead of at home. Some places we like to go are the library, children's museum, and the mall. Some places have indoor play places that are air conditioned as well. You could also just go play in the water in the back yard or at the pool. Just think of all of the places that are air conditioned even if you weren't there (the grocery store never looked so inviting).

--Cold baths are nice.

--Popsicles are delicious, and you can make your own pretty easily. We also like to freeze berries and just eat them straight out of the freezer.

Now, you may be thinking that because I live in Portland I don't know what hot is but let me tell you, I lived in Nebraska for 25 years. It is hot and humid in Nebraska. You can't walk outside without feeling like everything is sticking to you. When we lived in Nebraska, we used the air conditioning about one week a year.

I know that everyone who reads this blog is very diligent about cleaning out the microwave. If you cook something like spaghetti and it splatters all over, you immediately clean it up, ignoring the toddler wrapped between your legs and screaming while your "helper" is constantly present trying to see what is next to be done in this one person job. But, for people who are not so on top of things, here is a great way to take your microwave from a scary nightmare with caked on who-knows-what to looking like new.

In a microwave-safe bowl add 1 cup warm water, 1 Tbsp vinegar, and 1-2 drops of liquid dish soap. Place in the microwave and heat on high for 4 minutes. Let sit for 15 minutes without opening the door. After 15 minutes, wipe out the microwave with a clean rag. If there are persistent stains, dip a corner of the cloth in the liquid and wipe off.

Here is the after shot (I will not scare anyone with the before but trust me when I say it was bad).

Ditch the Disposable

One very easy way to save money (and be more "green") is to stop using disposable things like napkins. You can easily make your own cloth napkins. They are great because they not only save you money but they also look great! Why do you think fancy restaurants use cloth instead of disposable? Check out the ones I made!

Homemade Greenhouse

How are your gardens growing? Mine feels slow. But, I got all of my seedlings potted up and taken outside to the balcony (at least during the day). Yesterday I sowed more seeds and stuck them in my little homemade greenhouse. It cost me...nothing! I am really excited about it (and have been since I came up with it over two weeks ago). The lid is high enough that the seedlings don't touch the top so I can keep them toasty and moist until they are ready to be potted up. All I did was find a large clear plastic container with a lid, flip it upside down, place all of my plants on the lid, and pop on the top. It was that easy and my seedlings have never been happier. I would still like to figure out how to rig up a grow light but alas, I have no money or supplies. Yet.

Benefits of Sewing

Learn to sew. You don't have to be so good that you do intricate quilt work or make all of your own clothes. If you just learn some sewing basics you can save yourself a whole lot of money (or at least a lot of little expenses here and there).

The strap adjuster on my son's backpack broke the other day. Using my seam ripper (the most important tool a seamstress can have) I was able to remove the old piece and sew on a new one. It took me about 45 minutes. I only needed to know how to stitch forwards and backwards. For all of you who are trying to think about how much money I saved, here is a conservative estimate:

This backpack new (but on super-duper clearance) = $3.50
The new plastic piece (it comes in a 2-pack) = $1.29 for 2

So, even if I could find another cheap backpack, it would still be cheaper to fix it myself.

Now, don't even let yourself think that I have some great expensive machine. I don't. In fact, I have the cheapest [adult] machine that Target has to offer. It works great! The machine I had before the one I have now was not so great so if you are looking to buy don't buy this one. It is also important to remember that sewing is more forgiving than you might think. If you look inside of some of the things I have made you would be amazed at how great it looks from the outside. Sew, go sew (if you don't know how, I am sure that you can find a friend who will give you a hand).